Product Details

• Actors: Miguel Anga Diaz, Gabriel Hernandez
• Directors: Dan Thress
• Format: Color, Digital Sound, Subtitled, NTSC
• Number of tapes: 1
• VHS Release Date: April 1, 1999
• Run Time: 52 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00004U5J9
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #413,855 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding video!, June 24, 2002

By 

"raoul2000" (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Anga Mania! [VHS] (VHS Tape)

First off, it's important to understand what this video is and what it is not. It's not a beginner's video; it assumes the viewer has at least 1 year's worth of playing experience, including personalized instruction on the Tumbao and Guaguanco patterns. If you want to get all that you possibly can from this video, you need to be at the stage at which you can learn by watching. Miguel teaches not as a conga player or even a percussionist, but as a musician. I thought the ensemble and DJ sets were excellent -- at the very least, they serve as a demonstration that a good conga drummer is by no means constrained to Latin music.

I have 6 instructional videos for the conga. This one is by far the best. As a bonus, the audio and video are surprisingly good. If you're a beginner, don't expect to learn basic techniques. Do, however, expect a show of all the different things you can do. If you're an intermediate-to-advanced player... well, set your drums up in front of the TV and get ready to wear out your VCR! Either way, it's a fun ride.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A grab bag of ideas from a master player, January 5, 2008

By 

M. Palmieri - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Anga Mania! (DVD)

For those not familiar with his work, Anga was (I feel sorry saying "was") a very adroit conga player who often performed with more than the traditional two drums, to give his grooves a more melodic aspect. He was also capable of playing very fast licks, sometimes using Changuito's "mano secreta" double stroke technique. If you have heard Giovanni Hidalgo, you have a general idea of the "school" of congueros that Anga came from.

How you feel about this video will depend on your skill level and interest. A beginning conga player (or non-conga player) could watch this for pleasure, but might be a little overwhelmed. Anga plays his own five drum variations of the basic tumbao and guaguanco patterns, but he never explains the underlying strokes or patterns --that's not the video's intent.

Intermediate and advanced players have a grab bag of licks to check out, some explained and some not, plus a couple new groove ideas -- the pilon and batumbata (sp?) conga rhythms played against other percussion and a hiphop drumset beat -- all played by Anga, overdubbing to become three players. There is also a thought-provoking duet with a dj in a drum&bass style, with some nice doubletime grooving by Anga.

The one audience that may be a little frustrated are people who prefer the folkloric style of Cuban percussion, past & present, eg the Munequitos, Conjunto Folklorico, etc. Although Anga plays one well-known bata rhythm in passing, he does not really play rumba or other traditional Afro-cuban styles in their more sophisticated forms, preferring -- in this video, at least -- to take fairly simple rhythms like tumbao and the old-fashioned style of guaguanco, and elaborate on them with more notes and faster licks. This is not a criticism, just a matter of aesthetic choice.

Speaking as a musician who does not play much conga anymore, I most enjoyed the conga-turntable duet -- a very interesting musical statement.

If you are a conguero with some fluency on the instrument, you will probably find something here to provoke or challenge you, assuming you like the Hidalgo-Changuito style of playing.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pay Attention to this One, April 7, 2002

By 

Kirk R. Fleming "bongosarian" (Colo Spgs, CO USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Anga Mania! [VHS] (VHS Tape)

First, this is not another typical 'instructional video'. This is one I feel beginners through advanced intermediate players will enjoy watching many, many times. Miguel does provide some philosophy and some tips--including how to develop solos using a ground-up approach adding 'melody' gradually (he uses all 5 drums throughout most of the video).

But, you're going to want to sit back and watch, listen and learn from what he does. He's really something to behold. As for some of the ensemble stuff and DJ accompaniment--well, some of it's just a bit goofy for me. Still, this is a refreshing break from videos that are intended to be stepwise instructional. Oh--you don't need 5 drums to get the ideas.